The present invention relates to hand tools used to handle electrical contacts during their insertion or removal into or from rear release electrical connectors. In accordance with the present invention a single hand tool can be employed both for inserting contacts into, and for removing contacts from, a connector without changing the contact holding tips.
Electrical connectors such as rear release connector families conforming to MIL-C-38999 employ rear release pin and socket insert contacts and are particularly useful in aircraft and other electrical systems because of their reliability and space saving characteristics. Such electrical connectors are well known in the art and are characterized in part by the use of resilient fingers which engage annular shoulders on the contacts to positively lock the contacts into the connectors. Such connectors often are small, located in a crowded environment and have flexible gaskets through which contact pins must be inserted or removed. As a practical matter, special tools must be employed to handle the insertion or removal of contacts, and tools for this purpose are known in the art.
For example, one such tool is a probe-type tool which is made entirely of plastic material and has no moving parts. Another such tool is an off-set tool with a tubular tip which is split lengthwise and affixed to a tweezer frame. When pressure is applied to the frame, the tips spread to allow the contact and/or wire to enter. The tools heretofore employed for this purpose, however, generally either suffer from high cost, frequent breakage or require separate tools for insertion and removal functions.
In accordance with the present invention, an insertion/removal tool is provided which synthesizes insertion and removal capabilities into a single tool. In addition, the tool of the present invention is of a design which is adaptable to a composite construction of metal tips and a relatively inexpensive plastic body and can be economically manufactured yet is not susceptible to undue breakage. Furthermore, the tool of this invention can be conveniently and easily manipulated in use.
The contact insertion/removal tool of the present invention has an elongated body which comprises a receiver and a cover, the forward ends of which carry a pair of contact holders in facing relationship. The receiver has an upwardly open transverse notch disposed between forward and rearward upwardly open channels. The cover is adapted to fit at least partly into the channels to be aligned thereby with respect to the receiver and is pivotally attached to the rearward portion of the receiver in a manner which allows limited movement in the longitudinal direction as well as pivotal movement between an open and a closed position. The contact holders cooperate to hold an electrical contact and positioning of the cover to a forward or rearward position aligns or misaligns the end of the holders to place them in either an insertion or removal configuration. Opening of the cover allows placement or removal of a contact into or from the tool while the transverse notch provides means for accommodating the wire associated with the contact.